No7 Real Women Campaign - Yay or Nay?

Following in the footsteps of Dove's 'Campaign for Real Beauty' and M&S' real women ad campaign, No7 have launched their latest campaign alongside their famous buy one get one half price offer starring four 'real' women. The profiles of the women, an Advertising Executive, Banking Compliance Officer, Charity Programme Manager and a Solicitor are available on the No7 website and include the story of each woman as they were transformed by No7. Each 'real woman' was given a signature colour look which is displayed in store alongside look cards telling you how to achieve that look yourself.

Don't get me wrong, I think using 'real women' more in ad campaigns is great, after all, we're not all tall and slim with luscious locks and perfect skin, but there's something about the new No7 campaign that I find difficult to relate to. I can deal with the women all being that bit older than I am, I'm sure many models used in advertising campaigns aren't my age and No7 would have to have countless 'real women' to appeal to everyone if age was an issue.

I think it's the profiles that create the barrier for me, I'm not (yet) in a high end job and I haven't been stuck in a makeup rut, I'm just a 20 year old who enjoys looking her best. All of a sudden I can't help but think about No7 being the brand it was before its 2005 relaunch, something that my mum used and where I would pick up a nail polish if the colour took my fancy, not the go-to brand for good value makeup staples that it had established itself as following its 2012 'younger audience' relaunch.

The real woman theme worked for Dove, with skincare it's the product being sold and what it's capable of, not a final look. Dove received massive media attention for being the first brand to take such a bold step in the direction of inner beauty and I'm sure anyone who wasn't aware of their wide range of products before their campaign was afterwards.

I'm interested to see how the No7 campaign is received by the media, if it's noticed at all. I by no means think that it's a bad idea, many customers will be able to directly relate to one of the featured women and the look cards will encourage customers to buy into a whole look as opposed to single producrs.

The campaign hasn't put me off as a customer, I still can't wait to get my hands on of one of their lip crayons and their gorgeous lilac nail colour but I look forward to a future campaign that really captures my attention!

If you're interested, here's the tv ad.

What do you think of the No7 campaign?
Do you think real beauty is important?